<<First of all "a" vs. "an" serves to keep there from being one vowel immediately following another whereas /D@/ and /Di:/ both end in vowels.>>
I think the reason for the [D@]/[Di] distinction is that liaison with [i] seems to be preferred over liaison with [@]. For example, [@] is one of the intrusive r vowels, but [i] is not. Assuming that you don't use an intrusive /r/ after "the", then is this the only instance of [@] being followed by another vowel in your speech?
<<Of course, there is the third difference in that it would seem that there would be a fair number of people who don't follow the /D@/-/Di:/ rule.>>
Yes, I have heard some people pronounce prevocalic "the" as [D@]. (I think they've tended to use [?] to avoid vowel hiatus.) It does stand out to me though; I think most people round here would use [i].
I think the reason for the [D@]/[Di] distinction is that liaison with [i] seems to be preferred over liaison with [@]. For example, [@] is one of the intrusive r vowels, but [i] is not. Assuming that you don't use an intrusive /r/ after "the", then is this the only instance of [@] being followed by another vowel in your speech?
<<Of course, there is the third difference in that it would seem that there would be a fair number of people who don't follow the /D@/-/Di:/ rule.>>
Yes, I have heard some people pronounce prevocalic "the" as [D@]. (I think they've tended to use [?] to avoid vowel hiatus.) It does stand out to me though; I think most people round here would use [i].